U.S. Pat. No. 6,981,482 discloses a starter apparatus wherein the damping spring is mounted on supports on the entrainer and on a rope reel. The supports lie one next to the other. It has been shown that the entrainer can tilt slightly relative to the rope reel because of the forces which arise during operation so that a gap occurs between the entrainer and the rope reel. This gap can also occur because of manufacturing tolerances. During operation, the damping spring can force its way into this gap and this can lead to a fracture of the damping spring.